Decided to update my list after living here for a few months now. The first 6 items were on my original list.
- They don’t eat crisps or peanuts with beer – Crisps and peanuts are definitely off the menu when drinking beer. Instead you eat herby garlic croutons or salted, dried fish known locally as Vobla (pronounced wobbler). It’s a bit like chewing salty leather to start off with but you quickly get in to it. Due to the fact that it is very salty you need more beer to wash it down.
- They like to sing. – I don’t mean singing in the shower or around home, although they probably do that as well, but they like to gather in big crowds to sing. I mean really big crowds. In fact so big crowds that the singers at the back probably can’t see the conductor at the front. Every 5 years the Latvian Song and Dance Festival takes place. The last one in 2013 had over 30,000 performers, Impressive!!
- Tea doesn’t always mean Tetley or PG Tips – The Latvians are very in touch with nature. So any plant which has some medicinal properties is dried and made in to a tea. My favourite is mint and chamomile with organic honey.
- If it moves they smoke it. No that’s not street tall for killing. They seem to have a great affinity for smoked food; in the markets you can find virtually all fish and animals smoked and ready to eat. In the local market they even had smoked pigs ears and snouts.
- Most Latvians have a summer house.- No not a shed at the bottom of the garden but a second house in the countryside. Many Latvians rent a second house for the summer and some own a summer house. Come Friday in the summer city dwellers hit the road and head for the countryside. I’m told it can be a bit like a Le Mans start or Friday afternoon heading north out of London on the M1. In fact some people live permanently in their country houses during the summer months.
- Latvian men like to wear hats made out of oak trees – Ok I exaggerate. Oak tree branches and only on one day of the year. Midsummer day is a time to celebrate and the men wear a ring of oak branches around their head. As everyone knows oak is a very strong wood and the significance of a man wearing this is that he is strong. Obvious really.
- Latvians love to forage for food in the forests, particularly mushrooms and berries.
- Saunas are a necessity if you live in a country house. A very popular pastime particularly being beaten by branches of a birch tree.
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- Dried flowers for Tea
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- Oak Hat
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- Latvian Song and Dance Festival 2013
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- Beer and Vobla
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- Latvian Smoked Fish
An Englishman in Latvia 
OMG, that is so interesting. how you describe everything. For us all of that is so usual, but you dress up all these things in different way, and again it seem’s unique.
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In Midsummer only man who’s name is Jānis wear ouken make ring.
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OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Sir you better of asked the copyright owner of those images if you could have used them!
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Ha Ha Ha
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Not sure about that beer and vobla thing, chips are pretty awesome too! But rest seems to be right! 😉
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I was going to post much the same comment. EVERYONE I know is far, far more likely to munch “crisps” (potato chips) or other like salty snacks than either garlic bread or vobla. Matter of fact, I’ve NEVER known anyone to serve vobla with beer. (not sayin’ it doesn’t happen, just something I’ve never seen)
I would also point out that the summer house in the coutnry thing is a bit misleading. Most do not own or even rent a second property (the majority don’t even own their first). OWNED second properties are for the top 5 or 10% of earners. The rest either rent for short periods of time OR, more often, have relatives in the country. This used to be “Vecmāmmiņa” (grandmother) and/or (Vectētiņš) (you’ve already figured this one out). Their home was the whole extended families true home and the city home was just where people lived in the winter to make a living. On weekends the cities would empty (become a ghost town on the summer solstice) and people would go to Vecmāmmiņas. Vecmāmmiņa had some land, grew her own potatos and other veggies, kept some chickns, maybe a cow. Everyone from the city would “help” on the weekends, especially at planting and harvest, and would share in the bounty.
Since renewal of independence in 1992, there has been large scale migration to cities for employment opportunities,Vecmāmmiņa is either “beyond the sun” or not able to work the soil or care for livestock anymore and, it seems to me, the tradition of heading for the country on weekends is substantially in decline.
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Interesting observation and I have made similar observations but were you in Riga on Saturday. It was like a ghost town, the only people in the centre of Riga were tourists and people working. I have not yet travelled extensively throughout Latvia but it’s obvious that in the Latgale region the countryside is depopulating on a large scale. My hypothesis on this is since 1992, when the Latvian/Soviet agricultural policy moved from a centralised one back to small scale family farms, there were less jobs so the emigration to the cities began. Not sure though, will have to speak to a economic historian,
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Basically, you are right.
During soviet occupation there were plenty of jobs in rural areas, not jus tin agriculture either. Other industries, as collective farms, however, were very inefficient, with manual labor used over automation to ensure enough jobs. Possible in a centralized command economy, but no longer possible in a competitive market economy.
As an example, one sawmill I consulted employed +/- 200 people and produced about 2000 m3 of finished product a month. An Estonina built modern plant not too far away employed less than 50 people, soon after start up, and produced 48,000 m3 and have since substantially upped productivity. Not hard to figure out which of the two was more competitive. No prizes for guessing which one was bought out by a major interrnational company and which has closed its doors.
I live near Cesis and the city (town in any more populated country) is much emptier than when I moved here 10 years ago. All of my kids have had classmates who have moved to Riga and abroad with their p[arents in search of employment and better standards of living.
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I thought Cesis was on the up and booming?
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Only if booming you mean in decline.
There are things going on, but ovverall, both in terms of jobs and population, it is in decline.
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This is a conversation I would like to continue with. There are many aspects of the Latvian economy I don’t understand. Perhaps when I move to Limbazi we could meet for a beer and put the world to right
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We can definately try to meet up and it is clear that nothing works as well as beer to solve global problems ;D
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Sounds a plan. Give me a few weeks till we move to Limbazi and I’ll get back in touch.
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Totally disagre, some moran from Daugavpils wrote this! 😉
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The moran is from Bolton, UK. What is factually incorrect?
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Vobla is Russian traditional snack actually, used with vodka. Latvians prefere smoked https://www.flickr.com/photos/sandra-rk-lv/2760188547/in/set-72157604136466489 (I don’t know the name of fish) if possible 😀 Nice observation though 😀
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Thank you I’ll look out for the Latvian version.
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It is called Bute (or Plekste) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_flounder
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thanks
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eel
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Disagree on first one, others are fairly accurate 🙂
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Perhaps I haven’t drunk enough beer with Latvians yet. After all, I’ve only been living here for a month.
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Definitely, you should observe this over the national celebration of Summer Solstice 🙂
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Will definitely join in!!!
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I am even coming back from the UK for this almost every year, so worth it 🙂
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Have a great night.
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Oh come on, the first one is actually very subjective : D
Personally as a Latvian, I’ve never even tried that Vobla fish [hadn’t paid attention to it’s existance before..]
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The only thing I’d have to disagree with would be the Vobla thing as previously stated. I don’t know who buys them, but there must be some demand as they are still being sold. Other than that, great blog, keep it up!
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Awsome blog. 🙂
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Thankyou
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I with everything except the first – vobla comes from Russia!
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OK, I’ve got the vobla thing wrong. My taxi driver Latvian friend must have been testing me when he brought some vobla and beers around the other week. I quite like it though.
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No, it’s not wrong. Probably the guys and girls posting that they’ve never seen that, are young punks. Dried fish is very common for latvians too, especially for the people from the seaside.
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Pieraksti vēl 7. brīnumu!
Latvieši ir verga dvēseles, kas neciena paši sevi, jo izpatiks 15-20 cittautiešiem un komentārus rakstīs angļu valodā, nevis savā dzimtajā – latviešu valodā!!!
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Paldies par to ka lasijat manus rakstus ka ari komentejat , jo katra individualas domas ir vertas . Šo lapu es rakstu savai ģimenei un draugiem kas dzivo Lielbritanija , tapec ari rakstu angliski ,jo nebiju cerejis ka daudzi cilvēki no dažādām valstīm lasīs . Latviešu valodu vēl nezinu , bet jau mācos . Un nobeiguma pēc savas pieredzes es gan nepiekrītu par to kā jūs nosaucāt Latviešus , man ir cits un ļoto pozitīvs vertejums . Visa laba velējumi jums un jauku nedēļas nogali
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Re kā…
Es labprāt “nezinātu” angļu valodu, kā Tu “nezini” latviešu, spriežot pēc Tevis rakstītā 🙂
Uzskatu, ka Latviešu kultūras un tautas pastāvēšana ir nopietni apdraudēta, atvērtās Eiropas savienības un ievērojamā minoritāšu īpatsvara dēļ. Kategorisku un asu komentāru rakstīju tikai, lai pievērstu tam uzmanību un, varbūt liktu padomāt par to. Mazo tautu asimilācija ir tikai laika jautājums, bet ceru, ka vismaz mani mazmazbērni vēl sauks sevi par latviešiem.
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Thank you…it was awesome….
Latvian from Aldershot in the UK
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To Didzis
Didzi, it takes time to learn a new language.Latvian is not the easiest one. Even you have mistakes in your comments despite it’s your mother tongue. There are quite a few people living in Latvia for over 50 years and still don’t speak nor understand Latvian. So be patient and give time and help to learn who wants to do it it instead of writing some nonsense.
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First of all, the article is in English, therefore one might not know that/if the author speaks Latvian. Comments are mostly meant for the person who wrote the article or expressed the opinion.
Second of all, there is nothing wrong with writing, talking or commenting in another language. Unless, of course, you can’t and must Google translate in order to do so.
So, to sum up what I mean here – keep your incompetent nationalistic notions to yourself, dipshit.
Yours truly,
A Latvian Atlanticist – Internationalist
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Well said. Labi teikts.
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Good….that is the point…
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Is there a like button for comments somewhere? 🙂
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I don’t know, I have a look
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Why the judgmental, rude, negative, name calling comments? You are an embarrassment to Latvians by portraying yourself as the superior expert in…… what?- it’s perfectly OK to disagree in a more mature and respectful manner. Who cares if the person writing the post speaks Latvian or not? Here is a person that enjoys and honors experiences and culture while in Latvia, shares it with the world, even if some of it may not be authentic due to mixture of cultures, or changes in the country – he is graciously open to correction. Maybe he is married to a Latvian, part Latvian or not at all. Maybe raised in the UK without learning much of the native language and is in the process of learning. W;ho knows, it does not matter. I thank him for the blogs and even as a Latvian myself enjoy reading about what his experiences are in the old country today through his eyes. Keep the blogs coming Aedoxey! I certainly would not want you to represent our people. Shame on you!
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I wrote a reply to a comment Atlanticist – Internationalist made. I messed up the end of my reply and it’s meaning is totally wrong. I tried to find a way to edit with no success. Therefore I am making a correction here in this reply.
The last three sentences were not in the right order. I meant to write – ” As far as you, Latvian Atlanticist – Internationalist are concerned, I certainly would not want you to represent our people. Shame on you!” Ending with “Keep the blogs coming Aedoxey!” Thank you.
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Kā mani kaitina tādi žults pūšļi kā Didzis, kuriem vienmēr un visur jāsaskata negatīvais un jākrīt panikā par savas tautas izmiršanu. Šādi komentāri nepatīkami atgādina 1930.gadu nacionālisma uzplaiksnījuma negatīvākos aspektus. 😦 jebkuras valodas zināšana ir vērtība un priekšrocība, katrs izglītots cilvēks to apzinātos!
P.S. Love your blog sir, have read all of it allready! I was born and grew up in Latgale, and I’m happy to realise that someone from abroad also appreciates its simple beauty. I wish living here were easier though, as people here are generally poor, from where I come from at least.
And by the way, my grandfather, a latgalian, has prepared vobla himself and enjoyed it with beer of his own brewing.
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If you measure wealth in western terms ie how much money you earn then I agree Latgalians can be considered generally poor. It is a tough life out there but the latgalians I’ve met are warm hearted, generous people with a lovely sense of humour. I look forward to revisiting in August
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Pilnīgi piekrītu Jums, Alīna! Ļoti jauks komentārs.
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Paldies,malaciigi teikts…
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latvians are not slaves but people who respect other cultures and nations, loving to learn new languages and being proud of it. not like russians, maybe u re one?! why would i need to write in language he dont understand well? i m not french r german who doesnt care of other only his own asas. anyways i m proud to be latvian and proud that foreigners like my land. and i liked this blog, but yes i disagree with vobla- it s russian thing … i like better chips or yes- that garlic thing 😀 hehe keep it up, very interesting
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Interesting point of view, that a German doesn’t care about others! Why do you elwrite that? Experience?
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Whats wrong you have to Russians?
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I think if you read Kristine’s comment carefully she is not suggesting it’s wrong to have Russians. She was just commenting that vobla is more of a Russian than Latvian thing.
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And actually Latvians ARE slaves. They always look where is better and where to run. Look on latvian government. They are f??????? pricks. Just everything inside their pockets and talking random bullshit on TV. If there would be good, then people would stay there. But becouse of stupid government and eurounion they have to run from Latvia, as no jobs, no money, all factories sold and closed, country loan is bigger then country cost, all forests sold, nothing left in Latvia and after their say thats Latvia is independent. They suck massive eurounion D????.
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diez vai Tavi mazbērni sauks sevi par latviešiem, ja Tu šādi apraksti latviešus.
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Every 4 years, not 5.
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Flipping heck dad when did you start speaking and writing Latvian!!
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I have to admit to receiving just a little help from Inta he he x
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“Vobla” is highly appreciated mostly amongst middle-aged men from the countryside, especially where the russian border is closer. Like most people of younger generations, I prefer crisps (chips in Latvia) or toasted chunks of garlic bread.
It’s not so much about singing, as it is about national folklore. For 800 years or so latvians have been oppresed by invading aristocracy, so Song and Dance Festival means coming together as one and chanelling the powah of the enslaved ancestors, who worked hard and always with a song.
And yeah, most latvians can’t afford owning a summer home, but they do grow potatoes a lot.
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From what I’ve seen of Latvians, they’ll eat anything that isn’t nailed down 😉 Linda.
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As long as its got sour cream on it.
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And dill 😉
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Of course!!
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Let’s not forget caraway seeds.
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I think you wrong. Lots of English food whats people putting in salads with same stuff we feeding pigs and cows or throwing away. I don’t whats they eating now, I didn’t was there already for six years and hopefully never not gonna come back there.
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Because Latvians have in the past had an abundance of fresh produce they would only eat what is easily cooked and very tasty. In the UK we didn’t have your option so eating the leaves of cauliflower for example was common. In fact I still eat them now.
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it’s really nice :> i disagree with those saying vobla is exceptionally russian. i mean, ok, it’s not quite latvian, but due to interaction with russian speaking people in latvia and latvian speaking russians here, vobla has become a part of our culture as well. i must add that youth will probably drink beer with crisps, since euro-american lifestyle has a great impact on latvia. looking forward seeing further posts!
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Thanks for this amazing observation. 2., 3., 5. is a big time thing. Latvians really are made for singing – about everything and everywhere. That’s one thing even all Latvian communities outside Latvia have in common – they can plunge into a sing-athon whenever (songs might differ quite a bit though). And do you know any other nation having a musical (rock opera) about their national superhero (‘Lācplēsis’)?
Nature and a country house in country is a total must-have as well. Talking about “smoke everything they can”, one thing my old Latvian nan always told me comes to mind: “I eat everything that doesn’t move” (she didn’t really but it always made me laugh). Yeah, beer really has a very special pairing – crisps or croutons made of various styles of bread with garlic and oil. Don’t know anyone ever eating vobla with beer, perhaps in different century or different country. I also think it’s not a Latvian snack (looks really Asian). Most people would feel sick just by the look of it.
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Song festival is every 4 years, Latvians will never eat Vobla, sour cream goes on top of everything as well as dill 🙂 On that one night when guys wears oak branches, girls are doing flower..it looks very very nize. It is Ligo day- midsummer night. the rest is pretty much correct. However have seen numbers of countries around the globe and I am so proud to say- I am from LATVIA, even if for some Aussie it makes some Shrek face image= where the heck is that. Love my country!
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first point is bullshit, we eat crisps and peanuts with beer + garlic bread.
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Ok fair point
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where are u living in Latvia? and what are u doing here- just i m interested hehe 😀
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Jurmala at the moment, but buying a house in Limbazi. Working at an International school in Pinki
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You should visit the region of Latgale some time. It has a little different vibe. We have amazing Latgalian rock bands (a great show is gonna take place tomorrow night in Rēzekne) and very hospitable grandmothers living in the countryside. Beautiful nature, tens and tens of lakes (Latgale is often called The land of blue lakes). People are friendly and more tolerant to Russians and more tended not to be sober. ^^ . I’d recommend to visit the towns Krāslava, Rēzekne, Preiļi, Ludza. And countryside of course.
Btw, great article and very correct. 🙂 You should try beer with “šprotes”.
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I’ve been to the Dagda region a number of times, Inta’s krustvecaki live there. I love the region, its beautiful.
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It is always exciting to learn a foreigner’s point of view. Thank you for the interesting read! From my part, I suggest you reserve a Wednesday night or two, to visit a place called “Folkklubs Ala” in Riga Old Town. An impressive selection of Latvian beers form small breweries, and Latvians all over the place. Why Wednesdays? It might be interesting for you to see Latvians not only sing, but dance folk dances – and maybe try a couple of them yourself! 😉
And no – it is not a folk show, just a thing people love to do. No costumes!
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Thanks for the recommendation I’ll certainly pay a visit. Pleased you find the blog interesting.
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Went to “Folkklubs Ala” today for something to eat. What a great place. I’ll have to go again when there is some music on. Thanks for the recommendation
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Good luck and ”vobla” more eat russian. For Latvian is more chips, šašļiki(i dont now name for english, buth writh down google)
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Thanks for the comment. We call it shashlik in the UK.
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LOL!
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Great blog! Also being read and discussed in Australia.
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Hmmm… that dry fish thing (vobla) is soviet or russian thing – not latvian…. that’s a cr*p.
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It seems to depend on who you speak to.
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Disagree with the first and last one, Oak tree branch crown is weared mainly by men whose names are Jānis @ “Līgo” as a tradition, if someone else does it, thats not how it’s meant to be. Also, from all my friends I have only one who would prefer smoked/salted flounder instead of crisps, peanuts or garlic bread not to forget about prock scratches..
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Pork scratching, I do miss those
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Very tame stuff here, but look at the discussion it sparked!
Some European thinker once said that the smaller the differences between two peoples, the bigger they’ll be blown up by one side or another. Mountain out of a molehill, that vobla. ;D I’m an ethnic mongrel, so I should have no identity problem if I say I like it, but it does have a specific taste and you can only take so much before the need for drink overcomes you. Smart product, vobla. If you sell vobla, you’re also able to sell beer.
Since you live in Jurmala, I highly recommend visiting the other fishing villages and towns along the coast – Lapmežciems, Ragaciems, Engure, Mērsrags and Roja further up north. That way if you feel overcome by the Russians who show up for the New Wave and general summer life in Jurmala, you can get away from it for a bit. (I recommend taking the time to dig into the history of the word “krievi”. The problem Latvians have with Russians (who were not monolithic “Russians” but “kriviči” and “rusi” a while ago – like a couple hundred years) is not with the kriviči – from which comes ‘krievi’ and ‘Krievija’, who were the pre-war Russians here and fit quite well in the social fabric, but with the “rusi” Russians, who were from Muscovy and further out. Maybe I’m just an etymology geek.
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You’re right about vobla being a smart product. I think I will do some digging into Latvian history, too many things I really don’t understand.
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Kā būtu ar kvasu? Ārzemnieki to pagaršojot sauc par old coca cola
Un vēl mēs dzeram koku sulas
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Having problems acquiring a taste for kvasu, but I will persevere. Had birch juice in the village house. Only one problem, it makes you want to visit the toilet regularly.
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Yeah, the vobla thing is definitely a Russian thing, not Latvian. And, in addition, a wreath of oak leaves usually is made by family women to give it to a man with a name Janis (Jānis)..any Latvian family has at least one.. 👍 This happens during a celebration of midsummer (Jāņi, Līgo svētki)..
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Nr.1 – garlic chips + beer is correct, but belash (buy-10-and-make-a-dog-puzzle) in the tunnel near Central station is more popular than vobla.
Latvians put sour cream and dill on top of a lot of things.
And how could you forget MUSHROOMS??? It’s like going to doctor and forgetting your boy at home! Latvians love go to forest to pick mushrooms and berries. Everyone knows at least one secret place where they can find a lot.
Another thing Latvians do in spring is they drill holes in birch trees to collect birch sap!
Pirts, pīrāgi, rasols, ķekatas, RUPJMAIZE (some people eat it even with dessert), tautasdziesmas with layers of meaning are a few things more you should know
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If I was to write this again, mushrooms would certainly be on the list as would be the birch sap
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Really good article,
Not to mention that I have done each and everything of your list beaing foreigner, including Kvass I would consider putting the varieties of beers they have, as well as their love for the nature is outstanding.
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Great Blog,
As a foreigner and living here for quite a long, I have tried everything on your list not just the first one.. though there are dried fishes at our house (my family being Latvian), though the varieties of the beers and kvass definitely as I love it.
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Haha such a nice blog and read. I must say that vobla thing is also a generation thing 😉 Those Latvians like my grandfather who grew up in those times don’t mind vobla every now and then, but they enjoy variety. Mostly it’s beer and shaslik, which is also originally Russian thing but everyone loves it. Or cheese. Smoked Bute I think would be more Latvian, I love it. Younger generations I normally see mostly having beer and crisps or beer and smoked dried meets. My elders also often like to eat baked dark bread smeared with garlick when alcohol is involved and also not. I also love it:)
I am myself from Jurmala and I understand what you are saying about the country side properties. It is true, lot of people from Jurmala either have relatives somewhere in those parts of Latvia or have bought some properties. We have a big family and there are different country sides to visit:) And I also have a lot of friends who have or rent a property in Jurmala for the summer. But Jurmala is one of those places you want to be during summer. Beach, trees, still a city with even 5* hotels etc. And very close to Riga, so convenient! Besides if you are from Russia everyone knows where Jurmala is as it used to be kind of “Antigua” for them.
About the strong Latvian men and Oak hats, that was funny 😀 But it is a Janis fest so those named Janis wear the hat and everyone gets them free beers. And girls named Ligas wear hats made from flowers:)
I recently made a fresh peppermint tea with fresh orange squeeze to a friend Brit and he was so impressed “wow, this is so great, what is this? fresh peppermint and orange wooow…” that was funny as I thought it’s a normal thing to make a tea like this. And it tastes good. Btw I never drank tea with milk. Now it’s a like the thing!
And sauna, sure thing. A lot of Sauna parties when growing up. You should go to Lapmezhciems during the summer and try Sauna in the sea. I mean you swim to get to the sauna that is about 100m into the sea from the coast.
Also I am sure you noticed some Latvian negativity, this “everything is fucked up” attitude 😀 sorry for that hahaha
And that pride of singing… OMG we sing!! can you imagine that 😀 just kidding 😀 haha ….
Loving that you are in Latvia :))
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I love living in Latvia and particularly my house in Limbazi. Pleased you enjoy reading the blog
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I have been to Riga briefly a couple of times, but managed to do some tours both times. Lovely city and I especially enjoyed visiting that big market near the city center. Like you said, there was smoked stuff everywhere. It was quite and ‘eyefest’ for me.
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nu voblas – jā mans vīrs dzer alu un uzkož voblu, vai vislabāk kādu kūpinātu zivi – piemēram kūpinātas reņģītes vai lucīši… nu ķiploka grauzdiņi gan viņam nederēs kopā ar alu, kaut gan apmeklējot hokeju arēnā Rīga tiek lietots alus ar grauzdiņiem!
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True every town in Latvia is different due to Swedish, German, Estonian, Livonian (Kurzeme, Vidzeme, Zemgale), Polish, Lithanian (Latgale) influence.
Just like French language heavily affected English language during French rule (main reason why every English word has unique pronunciation).
Here it’s possible to hear various Latvian dialects and then later compare them with other languages http://www.valoda.lv/Valsts_valoda/Dialekti/mid_558 (sorry page is not fully translated in English for some odd reason).
And on this page we can roughly compare all European languages and look for similar Latvian words so we can kinda guess roots of Latvian language.
http://ukdataexplorer.com/european-translator/?word=gait
http://ukdataexplorer.com/european-translator/?word=beet
http://ukdataexplorer.com/european-translator/?word=steel
http://ukdataexplorer.com/european-translator/?word=child
http://ukdataexplorer.com/european-translator/?word=blanket
http://ukdataexplorer.com/european-translator/?word=trousers
http://ukdataexplorer.com/european-translator/?word=pumpkin
Only thing is google translate is not a credible source of information.
Thank you for visiting Latvia and please keep your expat eye on Latvia just like the other fellow expatriate from expateyeonlatvia.wordpress.
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Very generalized, can be applied to some latvians, but I think you would find it hard to find all eight in one latvian 🙂
And if I’m not mistaken the 6. would be called oak leaf wreath.
In Latvia I live in countryside, yet close enough to Riga, so that there is no need for summer house, and in the region there are many families who own only that one house.
People from Riga (and mostly those who have high income) could own summer house/cottage.
Sauna’s are a rarity. Mostly there are common ones that people rent. Only ‘old’ latvians (and I mean those who still live in deep countryside and/or old houses or hard-core Latvian tradition supporters) would have the traditional latvian sauna.
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